On 26 May 2005, Environmental Media Services held an international teleconference to allow reporters to hear and question experts on endocrine disruption about two new scientific studies being released:

Swan et al. report strong associations between phthalate levels in pregnant women and demasculinization of their baby boys' genitals.
According to nation-wide surveys, one-quarter of American women have phthalate levels at least as high as the levels associated with significant changes in this study.

In experiments with mice, Muñoz-de-Toro et al. show that perinatal exposure to extremely low (part-per-trillion) doses of bisphenol A (BPA) causes changes in patterns of mammary gland development at the time of puberty. When changes like those observed in these mice take place in humans, they are associated with increased risks to breast cancer. Most people in the US are exposed to this level of BPA.

To listen to segments of this teleconference, follow the links below. Each opens a new window. You will need to have a sound program capable of reading MP3 files, such as Windows Media Player or RealPlayer.